EdSource and the Learning Policy Institute will release a survey conducted by The Field Poll about voter reactions to California’s emerging teacher shortage, and other issues related to the profession such as salary, preparation, credentialing, teaching in low-income communities, and attracting talented candidates to the profession.

Bottom line: California school districts are running short on teachers.

Ellen Dougherty, superintendent of the Lawndale Elementary School District, has seen the shortages first-hand.

“There’s a great shortage, especially for substitutes. It’s terrible,” she said.

She’s not the only one concerned.

A new Field Poll, released Tuesday, shows that a majority of Californians are concerned about a growing teacher shortage as districts report difficulty in hiring enough teachers to fill their openings.

“Nearly all voters believe the problem is serious and the state needs to do something,” said Mark DiCamillo, director of The Field Poll, at a news conference announcing the survey results on Tuesday.

According to the survey, which was commissioned by the nonprofit EdSource and the Learning Policy Institute think tank, 64 percent of those surveyed said the dwindling supply of teachers is a “very serious” issue and 65 percent said it’s “extremely important” for California to do more to encourage people to become teachers. And 85 percent of respondents supported the state forgiving part of teachers’ college loans or offering more scholarships for would-be teachers as a way of encouraging more people to pursue the profession. But more than half, 52 percent, opposed allowing districts to hire teachers who had not yet completed their training or earned a teaching credential yet — so-called “emergency hires” that have been a common practice for years in California. And 58 percent of respondents believe the salaries for K-12 teachers in their local communities is too low, and 21 percent believe it is too high or about right.

Seventy-three percent of Democrats surveyed said the teacher shortage is a “very serious” problem, versus 48 percent of Republicans surveyed. And minority respondents were more likely to say there was a problem: Eight-two percent of African-Americans, 72 percent of Latinos and 68 percent of Asian-Americans believe the teacher shortage is a “very serious” problem, compared with 57 percent of white non-Hispanics.

The Field Poll surveyed 1,002 registered voters statewide by telephone, both land line and cellphone, and included both English and Spanish speakers. The survey was conducted between Sept. 17 and Oct. 4. The results have a maximum sampling error of 3.2 percent.

“It’s encouraging that there’s a high level of awareness of the problem,” State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said during the news conference announcing the survey results.

Thirty thousand teachers lost their jobs during the recession, he said, and today’s resulting teacher crunch “is a real threat to making the progress we need.”

Not all districts are suffering equally: Lawndale hired 39 additional teachers this year, but its jumped into the hunt early on.

“We had filled every position before school started, but many of the districts around us had 25 openings when school started,” Dougherty said.

And those districts have created a shortage for Lawndale, which now finds it hard to get long-term substitute teachers as needed.

“L.A. Unified does have adequately trained teachers for the current school year, 2015-16, but human resources staff are aware of a shortages predicted for the near future, especially in special education,” Los Angeles Unified spokesperson Gayle Pollard-Terry wrote in an email.

And those laid-off teachers haven’t been sitting around, waiting for the phone to ring.

“They didn’t just wait around, waiting to be rehired,” said Eric Heins, president of the California Teachers Association, at Tuesday’s news conference. “Many of them have moved on to other professions.”

While times are good for new teachers now, relatively speaking, that could change.

“We are so tied to the state economy,” Dougherty said. “When the economy goes down, we cut, and when it goes up, we hire. And when it goes up, it goes quickly.”

Lawndale will recruit aggressively and early for next year’s teachers, including from their current pool of student teachers.

“I have neighboring districts around me that still have 10 to 15 openings,” Dougherty said. “We’re pretty lucky; we’re pretty high on the pay scale for the surrounding area and we have a robust staff development program, so we have teachers wanting to come to our district.”

Things are also good in Redlands Unified, which is one of the more sought-after destinations for teachers in the Inland Empire.

“We have been hearing the same thing about a future teacher shortage, but in Redlands, we have not had any fall-off on our applications at this point,” Sabine Robertson-Phillips, assistant superintendent of Human Resources for Redlands Unified wrote in an email. “We have been able to fill all of our vacancies.”

Beau Yarbrough wrote his first newspaper article taking on an authority figure (his middle school principal) when he was in 7th grade. He’s been a professional journalist since 1992, working in Virginia, Egypt and California. In that time, he’s covered community news, features, politics, local government, education, the comic book industry and more. He’s covered the war in Bosnia, interviewed presidential candidates, written theatrical reviews, attended a seance, ridden in a blimp and interviewed both Batman and Wonder Woman (Adam West and Lynda Carter). He also cooks a mean pot of chili.